[Kabar-indonesia] ST: Haze Anger, But Jakarta Can't Do More [+Schools Close]

[Joyo at aol.com]

[Note: Due to trouble accessing ST yesterday,
We could not send the below reports until now]

6 ST Reports:

- Haze anger, but Jakarta can't do more

- Schools in Indonesia forced to close

- Thousands stay at home as air quality 
  turns bad

- Singapore voices concern to Jakarta

- Malaysians fume over recurring issue

- KL: Punish all fire-starters, including 
  Malaysian firms

The Straits Times (Singapore)
October 8, 2006

Haze anger, but Jakarta can't do more

Salim Osman, Indonesia Correspondent

PEKANBARU (SUMATRA) - INDONESIA says it is unable to put out the fires
in Sumatra and Kalimantan amid mounting frustration and anger in the
region about the return of the choking haze.

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla says that although the government has done
all it can to put out the land-clearing fires, little has been
achieved.

'Our only hope is for the rain to come and douse the flames,' he told
reporters yesterday at his office in Jakarta.

'Regional governors and leaders have been called up. Ministers have
been ticked off several times by the President,' he said. 'What else
can we do?'

But environmental groups accuse the government of not doing enough to
stop farmers and plantation owners from burning forests to clear land
during the dry season.

'If the law is enforced and the culprits are punished severely, it
would be a good deterrent and perhaps the fires will stop,' Mr Johnny
Setiawan Mundung, executive director of environmental group Walhi
Riau, told The Sunday Times.

In Singapore, the Pollutants Standard Index (PSI) reading hit an
unhealthy 150 at 9pm yesterday - the highest in the last nine years.

The National Environment Agency issued a health advisory telling
people with heart or respiratory ailments to avoid exerting
themselves.

Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim told reporters last night that
officials had already registered their concerns with their Indonesian
counterparts.

'We told our Indonesian colleagues of our concerns that the air
quality had already deteriorated and impressed upon them the need to
suppress the forest fires.'

An exasperated Malaysian Environment Minister Azmi Khalid said:
'Frustration is an understatement. I was in Indonesia in June...They
told me they had the systems to control the haze. It looks like their
systems are not effective.'

Twenty of Malaysia's 51 air quality monitoring stations yesterday
registered 'unhealthy' readings.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has said Asean must take
action to set up a fund to tackle open burning in Indonesia.

On Friday, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also spoke about
the importance of international cooperation to deal with issues of
trans-boundary pollution.

He said: 'I think that there has to be international cooperation but
there also has to be pressure from within each of the countries.'

Frustration on the ground, however, was reflected by an irate doctor
who called The Sunday Times last night and said: 'They are hurting us,
in terms of health and our economy.

'People are having respiratory problems. People don't dare to go out
and eat or do things outdoors.'

Additional reporting by Reme Ahmad in Kuala Lumpur and Sarah Ng in Singapore

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The Straits Times (Singapore)
October 8, 2006

Schools in Indonesia forced to close

Salim Osman, Indonesia correspondent

Green groups slam govt for not doing enough to put out fires, prevent them

PEKANBARU (CENTRAL SUMATRA) - THE thickest haze in years forced
schools to close and brought misery to residents in parts of
Indonesia, as environmental groups slammed the government for not
doing enough to stop it.

'This is now an annual occurrence, but very little is being done not
only to put out the fires but also to stop them from being started,'
said Mr Johnny Setiawan Mundung, executive director of environmental
group Walhi Riau.

About 180,000 hectares of forest have gone up in smoke since the start
of the dry season in June, he said.

The burning has belched out smoke that has enveloped much of Sumatra
and Kalimantan, as well as filled Malaysia and Singapore with choking
haze.

Much of the burning occurs in peat land, where flames continue to
smoulder deep beneath the earth for weeks even if fires on the surface
have been put out.

Reports in the Indonesian media blamed some of the burning on
Malaysia-owned oil palm companies but Malaysian Environment Minister
Azmi Khalid was quoted as saying yesterday that if this was true, the
Indonesian government should punish them.

'We are not here to protect anyone, and we implore Indonesia to impose
the most severe penalties under their law to anyone found guilty,' he
was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper. Mr Azmi noted that
Malaysia will not condone any activity done by its own people or
companies.

It is illegal to carry out slash-and-burn clearing in Indonesia, but
prosecutions take time and few have stuck.

This year's haze has been so bad that is has rekindled memories of a
choking cloud of smoke that covered a large part of South-east Asia in
1997 and 1998.

That episode sickened large numbers of people and cost local economies
billions of dollars.

Galvanised by the 1997-98 fires, South-east Asian countries signed the
Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002, but Indonesia
has yet to ratify the pact that calls for cooperation and mobilisation
of resources to tackle the problem.

Indonesia's Forestry Minister Malem Sambat Kaban on Thursday rebuffed
neighbouring nations' complaints, arguing that a tireless drive
involving thousands of people and costing many thousands of dollars
was under way to put the fires out.

Environmental group Greenpeace urged Jakarta on Thursday to 'break the
cycle of fire and haze' threatening the health of millions across the
region. It blamed big industrial concerns for being behind many of the
fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Land tenure disputes have also been blamed for pushing others to set
fires, WWF Indonesia, a conservation group, has said.

Local sources also point to limited government budgets and difficulty
enforcing national policy locally.

Environmentalists say that farmers and plantation companies set the
fires in Sumatra and Kalimtan as a cheap way to clear land for
plantations, mostly for palm oil, during the region's annual mid-year
dry season.

Students in Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan province,
and other areas on the Indonesian side of Borneo have been told to
stay at home since Tuesday because of the haze.

South Sumatra governor Syahrial Oesman said that it was almost
impossible to put out the fire in peat land as the embers continue to
smoulder for months.

'Only heavy rain can help us douse the flames. We are praying for
rain,' he told Antara in Palembang, the provincial capital.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Straits Times (Singapore)
October 8, 2006

Thousands stay at home as air quality turns bad

Melissa Sim and Nur Dianah Suhaimi & Sarah Ng

Polyclinics report rise in number of haze-related cases; face masks in demand

THOUSANDS of Singaporeans scrapped whatever outdoor plans they had
yesterday, as the haze reached its worst level since 1997.

Air quality began to deteriorate over Friday night. By 10am yesterday,
the PSI had reached 130, rising to a high of 150 at 9pm. The air
quality is considered to be unhealthy once the PSI exceeds 100.

The air conditions were bad enough for the Health Ministry to urge
people with pre-existing illnesses such as heart and respiratory
diseases, including asthma, to stay indoors and not over- exert
themselves.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the haze blew over from
southern Sumatra on Friday night.

Already GPs are treating patients for haze-related problems such as
coughs, asthma attacks and eye irritation. Polyclinics and private
doctors reported an increase in the number of people falling ill from
the bad air.

The lower activity levels were visible throughout the island.

At the Keppel Country Club driving range, the junior golf programme -
a weekly golf clinic for about 60 children - was cancelled and the
usually packed driving range had many empty bays. And usually busy
places like the beach, alfresco eating places and parks saw a drop in
the number of visitors.

Taxi drivers were among those whose business suffered yesterday as
fewer people ventured outdoors.

Cabby S.E. Lee, 55, said: 'I usually earn around $150 from 6am to 2pm,
but today I didn't even earn $100,' he said.

Of course, some still braved the choking conditions.

Mr Albert Tan, 67, a clerk, said he has been sticking to his routine
of going to the market and the beach, but he has been wearing a face
mask since Thursday.

Yesterday morning, he tried to buy more face masks for his family from
a pharmacy but they were already sold out.

Some Singaporeans felt that the Government should take control of the 
situation.

'Instead of just waiting for the Indonesian authorities to solve this,
maybe we should have a Singapore task force to work with the
Indonesian authorities,' said executive Yusri Samad, 30.

This is already being done.

Speaking at the Main Upgrading Programme completion ceremony at Marine
Terrace yesterday, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said the Government
is in contact with its Indonesian counterparts, but added that there
is little Indonesia can do once the fires have started.

'I just hope that next year, the Indonesians can understand our
concern and do something about the haze, or do something about the
fires before they are started by farmers and plantation owners,' said
Mr Goh.

He assured the public that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be
raising Singapore's concerns with Indonesia.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Straits Times (Singapore)
October 8, 2006

Singapore voices concern to Jakarta

Li Xueying

ON THE day when Singapore's air became the filthiest in nine years,
Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim grimly said
that Singapore is 'not standing still'.

Officials from his ministry spoke to their counterparts in Indonesia
yesterday morning and registered their concern.

'We told our Indonesian colleagues of our concerns that the air
quality has already deteriorated...and we impressed upon the
Indonesian officials to suppress the forest fires as quickly as
possible,' he told reporters.

He noted that from Sept 10 to Sept 20 - the period when foreign
delegates were here for the International Monetary Fund-World Bank
meetings - the air quality on seven of the 11 days fell into the
'good' range while four were in the 'moderate' range.

'In September, our Indonesian colleagues did mention that they will
put in place some efforts to suppress forest fires - number of
firefighters and so on and so forth,' he recalled.

'Since the IMF meetings, we had only three out of 16 days in the good
range, 13 in the moderate range. In fact today we crossed into the
unhealthy range,' he noted.

Saying that Singapore's air quality may continue to hover in the
unhealthy range 'in the few days to come' - as the winds are blowing
in the same direction - Dr Yaacob added that Singapore had offered
help with cloud seeding to induce rain and table-top exercises to help
farmers deal with land clearing.

But Indonesia has yet to take up on the offer.

Said Dr Yaacob: 'At the end of the day, it is up to the Indonesian
government, the Indonesian people at this point in time -the offer
that we have made still stands. I think if there is anything else that
they need, if they make a request, we will consider it.'

Singapore would continue to provide coordinates and hot-spot locations
so that the authorities there could 'hopefully suppress fires as
quickly as possible'.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the annual
Asian-European Editors' Forum that 'international cooperation' is
needed when it comes to solving problems such as the haze.

'But there also has to be pressure from within each of the countries,' he 
added.

As living standards rise, the domestic population will demand higher
standards of pollution control, he said.

Singapore itself maintains strict controls, he said, noting that
people live 'cheek by jowl, and if we foul our nest, life becomes
miserable'.

'Beyond that, other countries have different rules and different
environments, and unfortunately what one country does affects other
countries.'

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The Straits Times (Singapore)
October 8, 2006

Malaysians fume over recurring issue

Reme Ahmad, Malaysia Bureau Chief

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIANS, who have once again had to bear the brunt
of the choking haze, are outraged that Indonesia has allowed the
problem to return with a vengeance.

The country's main English-language newspapers yesterday zoomed in on
the recurring problem, quoting people asking when the issue would be
tackled effectively by Indonesia and Asean.

Commentators also demanded to know why the Malaysian government acted
only when the haze started to choke the country rather than pressuring
Jakarta to solve the problem.

'Everyone gets worked up when the haze comes every year and a lot of
talk takes place. But once it's over, everyone forgets about it,' said
Mr David Lee, technical officer at Global Environment Centre,
according to The Star newspaper.

'Fuming mad!' was the headline yesterday on the front page of The
Star, the country's largest- selling English-language newspaper. It
quoted the views of unhappy officials, the public and non-government
organisations.

The New Straits Times had 'It's getting worse' on the cover.

Columnist John Teo, who lives in Kuching, Sarawak's capital, wrote:
'All the skyscrapers in Kuching seem to have disappeared from view.
Face masks, which had not made an appearance for quite some time, are
again coming into vogue.'

Sarawak remains the worst-hit Malaysian state with several districts
registering an air quality of 'very unhealthy' on Friday. There was a
slight improvement in the readings yesterday.

Sarawak's neighbour is Indonesia's Kalimantan province, where hundreds
of square kilometres of forest have been set on fire to clear land,
mainly for oil palm plantations.

With the price of palm oil near record levels, observers said that
they expected the illegal land-clearing operations to continue as long
as the weather permitted.

In Kangar, Perlis yesterday, Environment Minister Azmi Khalid was
asked if Malaysia would formally protest to Indonesia about the haze,
reported The Star.

He said the Government could send any kind of note it wanted but it
would not be of any use.

'The Indonesian government is well aware of the problem and the only
request Malaysia has is that it be solved.'

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The Straits Times (Singapore)
October 8, 2006

KL: Punish all fire-starters, including Malaysian firms

Reme Ahmad, Malaysia Bureau Chief

KUALA LUMPUR - WITH thick smoke blanketing the region, Malaysia and
Indonesia are back to trading charges over who should be blamed for
the haze.

Every year when Malaysia points the finger at Indonesia for the haze
problem, the media and officials in Jakarta are quick to mention that
plantations owned by Malaysians there are also involved.

Malaysia has now asked Indonesia to punish all the companies found
guilty, adding that no one will be protected.

Malaysian Natural Resources and Environment Minister Azmi Khalid said:
'We are not here to protect anyone, and we implore Indonesia to impose
the most severe penalties under their laws on anyone found guilty.'

Feedback from the Indonesian government showed that slash-and-burn
methods were resorted to by small farmers and not big companies, he
was quoted as saying in Sunday Star.

'I would like to reiterate that Malaysia will not condone any activity
done by its own people or companies,' he added.

With land for palm oil plantations limited in the country, many of
Malaysia's big palm oil planters have bought or leased large tracts of
land in Kalimantan or Sumatra to expand their business.

In July this year, Malaysia's Minister of Plantation Industries and
Commodities, Mr Peter Chin Fah Kui, and Indonesia's Agriculture
Minister, Mr Anton Apriyatono, had agreed to take stern action against
those who break the law and contribute to the haze.

The penalties include revoking the plantation licences of the culprits.

This is not the first time that Malaysian plantation firms have been
accused of clearing land by burning forests.

It was the same last year and the 18 Malaysian plantation companies in
Indonesia produced proof, including satellite pictures, to show that
open burning was carried out by smallholders near their plantations.

The haze problem is particularly irritating to Malysia this year
because the Visit Malaysia 2007 campaign gets under way in January.

But the chief of the Visit Malaysia 2007 Secretariat, Madam Hashimah
Nik Jaafar, said the onset of rains should ensure that the haze will
not affect tourist arrivals.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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